People: Access; Quantuma; Triton Construction; Five Wealth; Lichfields
Manchester-based digital agency Access has made a director level appointment to ‘take its culture to another level’ and support its exponential growth.
The agency has recruited Lisa Jones as talent acquisition and development director. The key hire comes just months after Access was awarded the highest accreditation standard for its continuous professional development processes (CPD Gold).
Lisa brings an impressive track record of growing agency teams to the newly created role within Access, joining from 21GRAMS and previously McCann Manchester and HAVAS LYNX where she held similar positions.
She will be responsible for recruitment, retention and growth at the agency, with a key part of her remit implementing a new leadership mentoring programme. Access’s current head count stands at 45 including contractors but it is looking to reach 55 people by the end of the year.
This latest senior level appointment comes alongside four other new digital hires within the agency this month.
Craig Perks has joined the team as a senior developer, to lead a squad within Access’s burgeoning delivery teams. Craig joins from CTi Digital where he was head of Drupal development. He has more than 15 years of industry experience.
From left: Craig Perks, Eleanor Johnson, Isabella Vaughan, Alexander Gada
The agency has also taken on Alexander Gada, as a junior developer, as well as another two Degree Apprentices from MMU. Eleanor Johnson and Isabella Vaughan have both signed up with Access for this coming academic year to take part in the popular scheme.
Offering the opportunity to marry academic learning and the wider student experience with paid on the job training, apprenticeship developer degrees offer a win-win for businesses, apprentices and universities alike. Access has previously taken two other students as part of the scheme.
Simon Landi, Access managing director, said: “In the past 16 months our agency has developed in both our cultural approach and size, as new clients joined us and we all adapted to working from home. As restrictions lift and we implement new hybrid ways of working, we’re looking to refresh and re-energise our learning and development processes at all levels with Lisa’s help as we move forward.
“One thing that shone through for us as we navigated remote working, even ahead of the lockdowns, was the importance of culture within our business and how far we had come in creating an environment that nurtures and benefits our employees. Not resting on our laurels, Lisa’s appointment is about building on this and taking us to the next level; to keep pushing the envelope.”
He added: “We’re similarly delighted to be welcoming Craig, Alexander, Eleanor and Isabella into the agency. Craig will be a huge asset, bringing experience and leadership skills to our development teams.
“And we’re nurturing important talent entering the industry with our apprenticeships, too. We’ve been so impressed with our previous Degree Apprentices, Ben Ryder and Jon Studders, that we decided to offer two places this year, as opposed to one. What’s even better is that we have attracted two female developers to take the roles, which we hope will inspire others to follow in their footsteps.”
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Business advisory firm Quantuma has bolstered its North West team with the appointment of Gareth Pugh, who joins as a senior manager.
Pugh has more than 20 years of refinancing, restructuring and insolvency experience, holding a long term position at mid-tier accounting and consulting firm RSM UK, where he was an associate director in the restructuring advisory team. During this time, Pugh established himself as a trusted advisor to businesses across the North West.
In his new role Pugh will work with the firm’s growing North West team, developing and managing relationships with accountants, lawyers and lenders, helping to further cement the firm’s offering in the region.
Gareth Pugh
This news follows the appointment of Jeremy Woodside at the beginning of 2021 and promotion of Frank Ofonagoro to managing director last month. Since Quantuma opened its Manchester office in 2019, the team’s headcount has grown consistently and is expected to continue to grow in the next 12 months.
Gareth Pugh said: “The pace at which Quantuma’s North West team has grown and the way in which it has established itself as a leading advisory firm in the region since opening its doors in 2019 is really impressive. Robert and the team have gone from strength to strength, and I am excited to be joining them to further the success achieved.”
Robert Parry, managing director at Quantuma, said: “In what is an incredibly challenging period for businesses in the region, the need for a trusted advisor that can bring a professional, strategic and problem solving approach has never been more crucial. Gareth brings this and more, with a blend of restructuring, insolvency and banking experience, making him a valuable asset to the firm and to our clients.”
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Triton Construction has announced the recruitment of eight new team members as it pursues ambitious plans to expand its North West regional presence and increase turnover by around 30% over the next financial year.
Despite the pandemic and subsequent requirement to scale back growth, Triton has enjoyed a series of major project wins in recent months with a healthy order book and pipeline that dictates a target turnover of around £25m for the North West office for the current financial year.
These include a further new-build project for self-storage business, SureStore, the second phase of Mersey Reach for Chancerygate, Bolton Muslim Girls School, King David High School also two new-build Hotels in Wales for Premier Inn.
The existing team of eight has now expanded to 16 as Triton builds its regional expertise to support business growth.
Andrew Gaskell, formerly with CPSUK, and Jovan Ristov, who had a long career at Henry Boot, have joined as contracts managers, both bringing considerable experience in managing multimillion-pound projects.
New Triton Construction recruits
Jon Pendlebury has also joined from John Turner Construction as senior quantity surveyor, bringing nearly 20 years of experience, Hannah Bradshaw as project quantity surveyor, Craig Lomax as senior site manager, Sean Milligan as assistant site manager, and Dave Mulhall as senior engineer. Lisa North has also joined from John Turner Construction as administrator for the North West office.
Chris Quinn, North West regional director at Triton Construction, said: “I am delighted to be able to announce great plans for our North West operation, despite the uncertainty that the pandemic has caused over the last 15 months.
“We remain cautious but confident as our reputation in the North West continues to grow and we are pleased to have attracted some of the region’s best talent to help take that forward.
“With high profile projects including the refurbishment of the iconic Royal Liver Building in Liverpool and the radical new Big Yellow self-storage building in Manchester, we have set the benchmark for what is to come and look forward to building the business across the region in the future with a fantastic team.”
Triton Construction is a £50m turnover company providing design and build, civils, fit-out and refurbishment services. Established for more than 16 years it employs more than 80 people across its offices in Warrington in the North West and Yorkshire.
Paul Clarkson, managing director, said: “Having ridden out a number of economic challenges in recent years, we have adjusted the business model to become more resilient, robust and competitive. I am pleased to see our North West operation expand to now operate virtually independent of our HQ with much headroom for profitable growth in the future.”
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Manchester-based Five Wealth has announced the promotion of Amy Grace, Liz Schulz and Rick Gosling to the position of associate directors.
From left: Amy Grace, Liz Schulz, Rick Gosling
Amy and Liz have been with the company since launch in 2016, with Rick joining a year later in 2017.
They are all advisers at the firm and Chartered Financial Planners and last year also became shareholders.
Five Wealth said all three play an integral role in both the running of the company supporting the directors and looking after clients, adding they have been an important part of the first five years of the company and will play a key role in driving it forward for the next five and beyond.
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Manchester planning and development consultancy Lichfields has announced a senior appointment as it continues to develop and grow its operations.
Rebecca Hilton has been promoted to the position of associate director at the firm’s office at Ship Canal House in King Street, where she is joined by Alex Davies, who steps up to the role of senior economics consultant.
The promotions come as Lichfields has continued to maintain a resilient performance during the pandemic and sees a resurgent planning sector for the rest of this year.
Rebecca Hilton
Chief executive, James Fennell, said the promotions are well deserved with both contributing significantly to Lichfields’ growth during challenging times over the past 12 months.
He said: “Well done to Rebecca and Alex. Our investment in highly talented people is the linchpin of providing top quality advice to our clients. We look forward to them continuing to grow their careers at Lichfields and contributing significantly to our future success.”
Founded in 1962, Lichfields offers a broad range of planning and development consultancy services including development management, consultation, economics, EIA, heritage, neighbourly matters and urban design. Its clients include developers, landowners and operators in the housing, retail, leisure, commercial, waste and recycling and infrastructure sectors, as well as local authorities and government bodies.
